ValentinaSomewhere on the Balearic Sea, Spain – spring/summer 2020Saturday 01:15amThe first thing Isabella and I did as soon as we saw the open bar was get two gin and tonics. We sat down on two of the lounge chairs on the lower deck. They were facing the sea we're leaving behind, so we watched the sun setting over the horizon.We didn't realize how long we had been talking until they announced the cake.It's already dark by the time we're at our fourth round of G&Ts."Have you noticed that all the girls here besides the two of us are drooling over Matteo?" she asks."I have, actually."Gossiping with Isabella is different from doing it with Raisa. With Isabella it feels as if we're discussing something; with Raisa it feels more like talking behind someone's back."I bet you fifty right now that as soon as Ariana comes back to Hamilton, she'll be all over him.""Who? Vinnie or Matteo?""Matteo, of course. Why would you say Vinnie?""I don't know. I just thought she'd flirted with h

Saturday 8:45am, BarcelonaHe's telling me the story about trying to escape Raisa and Allison when Isabella saved him, suggesting the drinking game.He talks fast when he's on drugsI can still follow him though, and he appears to be able to keep up with how much I can talk, not minding it one bit and not looking bored. He looks like he's actually listening, only interrupting when he has something even better to add."I want a pizza because even though I'm not hungry, I can hear my stomach growling and I don't want to pass out."He's leaning back in his palms like he did back in the fountain, legs stretched and spread out, face pointed to the sky."Where from

MatteoPalermo, Sicily – June 1st 2020The initiation ritual doesn't take place on Sunday like Matteo had expected. His father came home in the evening, not at noon like he had said. He was in a good mood, despite their last phone call (he probably had more important things to worry about than his son's behavior) and didn't even talk to Matteo until the n

 Palermo, Sicily – June 26th 2020 It's grandma Angie's birthday today, so Lorenzo made an exception and gathered the whole family at her house for dinner. The 'family' meaning the extended family that includes the Barone and Altieri families as well. Grandma Angie lives in the townhouse next to their old house in Palermo. It's a one-story old building that

ValentinaMoscow, Russia - June 23rd 2020The weeks after I came back from Sicily went by in a haze. I spent them mostly watching movies and eating snacks, which led me wondering whether I was bordering on being depressed. Every day seemed to be exactly like the one before and sharing the same space with my family for days on end turned very toxic very quick.By the middle of June, Russia came back to pre-lockdown levels, which also meant that my social life took a dramatic increase. Not only did I have Raisa calling me almost daily to go out and do something ‘fun’, as well as Isaac asking me when I was free ‘to hang’, but I also had my parents drag Adrik and I to business meetings and formal lunches.My mother had commented that I had gained a little weight at some point during one of those lunches, which triggered my memories of being an insecure teenager with an undiagnosed eating disorder.Every time I come back to my hometown and spend some time with my parents, I come to the rea